Episode 4 Part 1 "Making an Enemy of an Empire"
Session #18: 10/20/2019 18 Ibn'Lagar 2350 of the 5th Age 'Recap' *The session began as the party woke in the SilverRidge Estate on the morning of the 8th of Ibn'Lagar. Liosynth woke before the rest of the party to slip a letter under Vendrin's door to apologize for the previous day's tensions. *On the way back to her room, Liosynth found Trillia Pzizera, the maid, holding a tray of coffee and biscuits outside Savacool's door. *Savacool wasn't answering and his door was locked. Lio took the tray and called for her father, but when she heard a soft banging on the other side, she dropped the tray and knocked the door in. Savacool had thrown a shoe to unlock the door. He had been unable to sleep in the comfort of his home after so many years in the Ashen Hold and had slept on the floor in the corner of the room. He confided in Savacool that he was afraid and depressed, unsure of what his future would hold and looking back on a long life filled with poor decisions. *Later that morning, the party met downstairs for breakfast before breaking off to take care of several errands. Kandra and Liosynth went to visit the Unseelie Redoubt to respond to a summons from the strange Iq'xick, then stop by the Centaur's Tracks to meet with Loray Sirothian. At the same time Vendrin, Thokk, and Zeevah went first to a place called Gristled Shiela's Deals and then on to the Temple of the Endless Sky to visit their archives, hoping to find information on Oberon and Titania, and Vecna. *Before heading to the Unseelie Redoubt, Kandra used her crystal ball to check on Iq'xick and found he was simply standing in his shop, waiting. When they arrived at his store, they found him in the exact same position. He asked Kandra to allow him the opportunity to examine the crystal ball and after a moment he SMASHED it with a large hammer, shattering it. *Iq'xick explained that he shouldn't have sold it to her, and was only persuaded by her charm the previous day. After she left, the results of an investigation into the crystal ball were returned to him and confirmed that a powerful fiend could spy through the crystal ball and see everything going on around it. To compensate Kandra for the inconvenience, he gave her a copy of Echo's Guide to Your Life in Particular, a book that gives warnings about the future. The first tip was simple: "Don't breathe the blue!" *After the Unseelie Redoubt, Kandra and Lio headed to the Centaur's Tracks inn. They were greeted by the innkeep, a centaur called Kearna. They found Sirothian on the top floor of the inn, in one of the private rooms. Sirothian met with them and warned them of several things. Sirothian remains loyal to the Savit Cel Ru but feels he owes them for their deeds on Korma Tol. He warned them that Orion Alivaur is performing experiments to bind Fey spirits to the bodies of kidnapped children, and that Tyri is one such child. Finick, the agent that attacked them on the Kingmaker, was sent by Alivaur to retrieve her. She was placed on Korma Tol to lure out a rogue Savit Cel Ru agent, but was taken aboard the Red Lion by the party. Alivaur knows the party is in Elberneth and knows that they have Tyri with them. He also warned them that Alivaur may send Sirothian against them again, and he won't jeopardize himself. *Meanwhile, Zeevah, Vendrin, and Thokk headed to Gristled Sheila's Deals. They found a store run by a strange Bheur hag. Sheila deals in knowledge and secret's first and foremost, though she does take coin. In exchange for knowledge about a legendary enemy of Vecna, Kas the Bloody-Handed, Vendrin would owe her 500gp and an interesting secret that she does not know. *The three of them then went next door to a Smithy run by a Fire Genasi called Blaze. Vendrin and Thokk commissioned a silvered binding contraption that could be used on Thokk when he changed into a werewolf. Thokk confessed his Lycan status and was quickly warned by Blaze to keep that to himself, not everyone is as tolerant as her and many would have his head to prevent him from spreading his curse. *The trio then headed to the Temple of the Endless sky and were greeted by a wood elf cleric named Phiora Moonsparrow. They were told that the temple archives aren't open to the public but they could request an audience with the Arch Priestess to present their case. *After a moment of waiting, Phiora returned and openly showed her suprise that the Arch Priestess was willing to meet with them. The party was brought to a suspended private space above the altar where the Arch Priestess resides. *Arch Priestess Wylia I'arinar Starbow, cousin of the emperor, told the trio that she has been asked to allow them access to the archives as a show of goodwill. Vendrin asked the Arch Priestess a series of questions about Oberon and Titania, inquiring as to what happened to Oberon after the fall of the Feywild. Wylia told him that there are many conflicting accounts given by a variety of scholars, but what is certain is that Oberon is responsible for having brought the entire island of Eloria to the Prime, saving it from certain destruction. *In the archives, Zeevah found a book detailing Asmodeus' fall from grace, claiming to be an accurate account of his ascent to godhood while Vendrin found a first-person account of Oberon's departure from Eloria in an ancient text written by an elder-fey present in the region at the time of transference. This person claims that after moving Eloria, Oberon had expended a great deal of his power, nearly making himself mortal. He wandered out into Domhan, to search for a way to bring Titania back. *After their meeting with Sirothian, Lio and Kandra decided they needed to find Tyri immediately. They hurried to the docks and found their crewman, Thran Traigh minding the Red Lion while Rain took Tyri to shop for books. *Luckily, the pair had only just left and Hermes was able to follow Tyri's scent, finding Rain and Tyri in a crowd on a nearby market street. *Lio and Kandra accompanied Rain to a bookstore that had been told of that is owned by a dwarf called Phidan. *Tyri inquired about a book on the High Sylvan dialect and texts on the history of the Gith. Phiden was surprised that a young girl would be interested in those subjects but pointed out the sections she wanted. *While Tyri and Rain looked around, Lio spoke with Phiden while Kandra kept a lookout for anyone following them. While speaking to Phiden, Lio noticed that his eyeline was strange, he seemed to be staring straight into her stomach, as though he couldn't really see her. Lio alerted Kandra to the strangeness and Kandra moved to locate Tyri in the shop. *Moving back through the tightly packed shelves, she nearly tripped over Rain, lying on the floor. She quickly checked and found that while he was alive, he had been stabbed and was bleeding heavily. Kandra called for Lio and what followed was a quick but brutal battle with two Savit Cel Ru agents. The dwarf Phiden was revealed to be an illusion. *The fight ended rather quickly, with one of the agents seriously injured, but alive. As Lio began to interrogate him however, he committed suicide using some sort of hidden poison rather than be captured. *After the fight, Tyri was safe and Lio and Kandra hurriedly carried a dying Rain to a nearby Temple to the Raven Queen. Rain was treated with respect and the priest who healed him told Lio that there was no charge for treating members of the Raven Queen's order. *The party met back up at the SilverRidge estate that night and talked about the day's mad events. They decided that The Savit Cel Ru had made a mistake going against them and needed to be taught a message. After an evening spent planning, they decided that Thokk, Zeevah, Lio, and Kandra would break into the Ash Reminder and leave some sort of message in Alivaur's office while Vendrin kept Tyri with him and lured Alivaur out of the building. *While Vendrin hid Tyri and waited in a tiny hut outside of the Temple of the Endless Sky, the rest of the group waited outside the Ash Reminder, when they saw Alivaur leave the building with a group of agents they used their Dust of Disappearance to turn invisible and made their way into the building. *The infiltrating group made their way up the large stairs to the top floor of the building and found a large red door guarded by two black leather-clad agents. Kandra split the two guards up by dropping a ball bearing down the stairs and once one went to investigate, she slit his throat from behind. At the same time, Thokk snapped the neck of the other guard. *Kandra nearly gave the game away when she wasn't prepared to catch the agent and prevent him from falling to the ground, but Lio was able to aid her in carrying him back up the stairs quietly. *Kandra picked the lock on the red doors and accidentally activated a magical poison trap, but was strangely immune to the poison, even finding the scent of it vaguely familiar. *The group dragged their two corpses into the room and shut the doors behind them. Inside they found a strange laboratory with an exam table covered in leather straps in the center of a summoning circle. all around the exterior of the room were work tables covered in strange tools. Thokk and Kandra strapped one of the corpses into the exam table, deciding that was an adequate message, while Zeevah and Lio explored the room. They found a journal written in some sort of code. Kandra also made sure to scratch a part of the summoning circle, breaking it. *Meanwhile, Vendrin cast Tiny Hut in the plaza outside of the Temple of the Endless Sky. He gave Tyri the Hat of Disguise and had her disguise herself as Skord and then cast invisibility on her, and as an added layer of security had a shrunken Hermes hidden in an alley a short way away. After a while waiting, two Savit Cel Ru agents entered the plaza, quickly followed by Orion Alivaur. *Alivaur approached Vendrin's tiny hut and they spoke cordially. At first, Alivaur denied any knowledge of the attack on the party, but shortly abandoned his usual friendly persona. As Vendrin outright accused him of murdering Alivaur snapped claiming that Vendrin couldn't comprehend the bigger picture and the scope of what had to be sacrificed to save innocents. "I've seen emporers burn and kingdoms fall. You know nothing." *Alivaur told Vendrin he had no desire to fight him on the streets of the city, despite the fact that he deduced Tyri was likely hiding within the Tiny Hut. He also admitted to being fully aware that the party was inside the Ash Reminder as they spoke. He left Vendrin with a warning to tread carefully. *After searching the top floor of the Ash Reminder, the group moved down to the floor below and found cells hidden behind metal doors. Inside one they found a child of about Tyri's age wreathed in fire and in another they found a human boy of about 17 trapped in some sort of coma. *The group decided to take the boy with them and escape, though they could do nothing about the flaming child. *The party began to move down the stairs but Liosynth, in her plate mail, ultimately gave away their presence. The entire Ash Reminder was suddenly alerted to their presence as they went sprinting down the staircase with Thokk barreling through groups of elves and throwing them from the stairs to their deaths. The group managed to dash from the building in one piece, but left a trail of bodies in their way. *The group reconvened once again at the SilverRidge estate, spending the night in the living room, keeping watch. They made the decision to leave the city in the morning and head to the Ould'Inoshowan Centaur reservation across the island and ask for sanctuary for Tyri until they could deal with the Savit Cel Ru problem. They sent word for Rain to join them for the journey. *In the morning the party sent Rain to find a cart and set about running minor errands on their way out of the city, The party moved as a group through the city for security. First, the party went to Gristled Sheila's to retrieve Vendrin's requested knowledge. Sheila told Vendrin that she has discovered that Kas the Bloody-Handed is indeed still alive and is currently on the Material Plane. In exchange, Vendrin told her that his group were the only ones in existence that are aware that the previous six months of time were recently entirely rewritten. She agreed that this was a good secret. *Thokk inquired as to whether or not Sheila might know anything about his brother, Eartaker. Sheila confirmed that Eartaker had been to her shop but that she couldn't just tell him for free. Vendrin offered another secret: Tyri, the child they travel with, has the spirit of the Seelie Queen Titania trapped in her body. *At first, Sheila did not believe them, but when Vendrin put the Amulet on Tyri and Titania's spirit was summoned forth. Sheila began to panic and begged Vendrin to put the amulet away, and agreed to tell Thokk of his brother's movements. *She told him that she had put Eartaker in contact with the Horned Alliance in Elberneth and that he had been looking to purchase a bomb. *After that conversation, the group went to the Temple of the Endless Sky once more, this time so that Lio could discover what she had to do to redeem herself. She was nearly ejected from the temple, but Phiora Moonsparrow waved the paladins off and took her off to a side room. She explained to Lio that she knows why she is here and understands that she is being given a second chance, but she does not envy her the task she is to complete *The Paladin Commando Ver Runningwood, who aided the party at Wirrothe in their battle against the Io'Galiroth, has been lost in Dis, the second layer of Baator. To reclaim her status in the Order of Corellon, Liosynth must save him. *Liosynth was given Ver's journal so that she could look over his notes and received a new holy symbol from Ver's personal collection. *The party met Rain at the gates of the city, loaded into a cart he had procured, and then set off for the centaur reservation, planning to stop in the Lycan town of Valirain on the way. The Good Samaritans, Rain, Tyri, and Savacool all left Elberneth, unsure of when they would all return. *The party journeyed for three days through the fey wilderness of Eloria and on the third day arrived outside the small village of Valirain. They were greeted outside the large fence perimeter by a wereraven named Donovan who confirmed that Thokk was a lycan before allowing them entry. *As he led them into the village, Donovan explained that the town's leader, Tari, discovered some sort of ancient enchantment on this region that allowed a Lycan to retain their selves even while battling a curse. He decided to found the town of Valirain and create a home for any and all lycans who wish to control their condition. He also told them that Tari is a talented alchemist who has been working on a way to change the beast a lycan is cursed with, to some success. *Thokk and Vendirin went into the large central building where Tari lived while Lio, Savacool, Tyri, and Rain went to the inn to get rooms, and Kandra and Zeevah were led by Hermes to a nearby temple. *Hermes led Kandra and Zeevah to a temple. Kandra was surprised to find that it was a temple to Hermes namesake, Hermes the God of Thieves. They were greeted by a wererat who greeted them kindly. Kandra and Zeevah tried to be respectful and feign piety but the priest waved them off saying "we don't really do that kind of thing here." He explained its more of a loose kind of faith if you steal from those who have too much, Hermes smiles on you. Kandra received a holy symbol of Hermes. *Meanwhile, Thokk and Vendrin met Tari, the werefox leader of Valirain. He smelled the werewolf on Thokk right away and quickly explained the risks of the change process, but believed that Thokk's Bear Totem would aid him in his transformation, particularly if he changed into a werebear. Tari called for Claw, the werebear innkeep who donated his blood (and his curse) to the concoction so that Thokk could change, and Thokk drank it. *What followed was several agonizing minutes as Thokk fought through the pain of several transformations but came out the other end alive. Tari advised him to accept the curse and attempt the change. Thokk did and changed into the hybrid form of the werebear. *Suddenly though, time froze. Thokk was able to move though and noticed a knocking at the door. He found Dolos standing there, no longer an elf but instead, an orc, still spotting his shock of blue hair. He asked if Thokk was pleased and was ecstatic when he was but Dolos also expressed a lack of surety, as he seemed to keep appearing to Thokk in the "wrong order" he asked Thokk if he knew what the term "The Touched" meant? Thokk did not. Dolos extended a hand anyway and gave Thokk the mark of Dolos on his hand, and time unfroze. *The party stayed the night in Valirain and celebrated Thokk's succesful transformation with the entire community. At the party, Liosynth spoke with her father more about his connection to the assassin Cor. Savacool admitted that Cor took two people from him that he cared about a great deal. *The next morning, the party set off for the centaur reservation. They reached the border at about midday and set off into the forest. Despite their alert status, they were ambushed by a centaur named Aefa who allowed them into the territory only after much convincing. *As the party entered the village and left the treeline, they realized that they were being silently trailed by almost 30 centaur warriors. *Aefa brought the leader of the centaurs, an old centaur covered in tattoos that detailed a warriors life, named Elder Ahearn. Ahearn heard the party's pleas for sanctuary and after some negotiating, granted Tyri and Savacool sanctuary. Rain agreed to stay on the sanctuary and keep watch over the pair of them and Vendrin decided to stay as well, thinking the party might move more freely without him their, as he was the one who threatened Alivaur directly. *The party also promised Ahearn that they would hurt the Savit Cel Ru, profoundly. *In the morning, the party left the village, being guided through the forest by Aefa. On their way out, they were met by a rustling in the forest. A goblin came stumbling out of the forest, drunk off his ass. *After redirecting an arrow fired at him by Aefa, the goblin introduced himself as Brock. Brock was a Monk of the Way of the Drunken Master. *After kicking the crap out of Thokk as an audition, the party brought Brock along for the journey and set out back to Elberneth. *After another 4 day journey, the party reached Elberneth once more. About a mile outside of the city, the group hear a massive explosion and saw a gigantic blue mushroom cloud rising up from the region of the city that holds the Still-Fey Market. *A wave of panic washed over the party as Liosynth worried about Ver Runningwood's sister Darilla, Thokk's rage toward his brother flared, and Kandra remembered the message from her Echo's Guide: "DONT BREATHE THE BLUE" *The party rushed into the city at full speed, hurrying toward the blue cloud that was slowly expanding out through the city. They reached the edge of the cloud and saw people stumbling out of the blue, falling to the ground and gasping for breath. Liosynth was able to save one of the men with a handful of spells, but the others perished far too quickly. *As the party planned their next move, they saw a group of Savit Cel Ru agent's rushing toward the cloud, wearing plague doctors masks. Brock decided they needed some masks and quickly killed one of the agents while Thokk cut another in twain. The party quickly grabbed enough masks for the whole group and delved into the cloud. *Inside the blue smoke, they found scores of dead. Elves and fey that had simply choked to death in their homes and stores. The party found no crater, indicating that this was solely a gas attack. *Lio found Darilla Runningwood dead in her flower shop. *Thokk and Zeevah lept into the sewers, thinking it likely that is how Eartaker made his escape. *Kandra hurried to Cloud on a Mountaintop's shop and found that his shop was magically sealed, he was trapped inside unable to help. Kandra demanded he do something but he responded with bewilderment. *Kandra ran next door to find Iq'xick standing perfectly fine in the smoke, he explained that he doesn't need to breathe. Iq'xick also had nothing that could help but had a sudden realization, he ran next door to Cloud's shop and began banging on the window shouting "CUBE! THE CUBE!" *Cloud gaped and then reached into his safe, pulling out the Cubic Gate. He ran to his window, hesitated for a moment and then slammed one of the buttons, throwing the gate through the window. *Suddenly a glowing gate appeared on the ground and all of the blue smoke began getting rapidly pulled through the gate. But the rushing wind was too much and pulled Brock, Kandra, and Cloud through the gate as well. *Suddenly, the three of them found themselves falling through an endless sky of raging winds and clouds. *After a great deal of maneuvering, the Kandra, Brock, and Cloud were able to cling on to one another and grab the gate again, opening a portal once more to the Prime Material Plane. *The group slammed into the ground as Cloud gasped for breath, remarking with amazement that "We were on the Elemental Plane of Air!" *Kandra began walking away with the cube but Cloud shouted for her to stop demanding to be given back his cube. Kandra, in frustration, threw it to the ground for whoever to take. But before Cloud could reach it, Brock grabbed it. *Brock wasn't strong enough to wield the cube though and accidentally summoned an Efreeti from the Elemental Plane of Fire! *There was a tense moment of panic, where everyone had to decide what was going to happen next. **Kandra sprinted for the sewers, deciding that the goblin had made his bed and could lie in it. **The efreeti hurled two handfuls of flame onto Brock, instantly killing him. **Cloud crawled to the cube, grabbed it, hit a button, and disappeared safely. **Iq'xick climbed over the buildings and out of sight like a spider. *The huge red genie pointed his scimitar at Liosynth who threw her hands up and backed off. But as Kandra waited for Lio over the sewers she cast Minor Illusion, pretending to be one of the Savit Cel Ru calling them to ATTACK! *All of the soldiers attacked the Efreeti at once as Lio and Kandra tumbled into the sewers together. *After several tense moments of fighting, things went suspiciously silent. Kandra peeked her head out of the sewer and saw all of the Savit Cel Ru agents lying dead on the ground. She then watched the Efreeti pick up the dead goblin and bring him back to life before plane shifting away once more. *The group shook off the madness of the past five minutes and then turned to look down the sewers, ready to chase down the terrorists who had killed so many innocents. Notes The party, at this point, owes its crew for 13 days of pay. The party has quite a bit to do in the coming days. Vendrin has been working tirelessly to decode the journal found in the Ash Reminder, and he is almost there.